The Stolen Sky (Split City Book 2)

by Heather Hansen

  Arden stopped at the mouth of an alley. She shivered as she pressed her chest to the cool dampness of the brick and leaned out to peek at the street where she’d last seen the Twins.

  She took stock of where they were, at the desolation of this part of Undercity. Poverty had grown like a cancer on these streets. The housing block in front of her looked like the one she’d lived in with her parents. The brick expanse crossing several blocks with domes where the streets cut through. Above the street, along which there had once been separate buildings, more housing had been created, connecting the original structures together. Several sections of the building had crumbled away. In front, the trash hadn’t been hauled away for weeks. The rotting garbage emitted a strong odor.

  Logically she assessed the location. This wasn’t the best place for the Lasair to hide. It was too quiet here. Empty streets meant watchful eyes. If Uri had picked it, he’d done a terrible job.

  Dade stood behind her, close enough to touch. He placed his hand against her but didn’t make a move to look around the wall. Instead, he watched behind them in case the Twins had doubled back.

  Voices still squawked in her ear. Distantly, she heard Dade updating their position even though Venz was already tracking them. “We’re at the corner of—”

  “We know where you’re at,” Roan snapped. He sounded pissed.

  It was Venz’s voice that Arden locked on to. He was calm and reassuring as he spoke. He made a good comm leader. Probably the best she’d worked with other than Colin.

  She ignored the twist in her gut at the thought of her deceased cousin.

  Venz said, “Do not go inside any of those buildings. Every one within the next block has active cams. Backup in five.”

  “Think you can last that long without getting into trouble?” Roan sniped.

  The Lasair boy stepped into the light just ahead at the stoop of the old building. A thick mist had settled in the street. It wove around the boy, parting as he moved. His shadowed features came into finer detail the closer he got to the light of the doorway. He shivered and looked back into the darkness, rubbing his arms, as if he felt the weight of her stare.

  The Twins were gone.

  Her pulse beat. Where were they?

  Worry over the Twins calmed her. If she expected trouble, she could plan for it. Calculate every angle they could attack, what she could do to prevent it, and how they’d escape. She had several scenarios running through her head even now.

  The boy looked around once more before he opened the door and disappeared inside.

  Her gut twisted. Time was short, and she needed to decide if answers were truly what she wanted. If she didn’t move now, before the cavalry arrived, this part of the plan would go to shit.

  Arden pulled back and then signaled to Dade. Pointed two fingers at herself and him, and then signed that they were going to leave.

  Dade nodded. He didn’t look surprised. And really, he’d anticipated her moves more often as of late. As if he’d made it his mission to study her.

  She didn’t know how she felt about that. It was sweet and disconcerting. How could she hide the darkest parts of herself if he insisted on knowing everything? She didn’t think it was healthy to know a person that well.

  Arden flipped on her comm. “The boy’s moving. We’re going to follow.” Then she turned and ran, leading them west. Eventually she’d “lose” her quarry and double back later.

  Dade followed right behind her.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Dade stood in the skytram station in Level Four, Above. It was one of the larger stations in the city. Three lines intersected at this hub.

  Thirteen disks stretched across the open sky between one skywalk and the next. Each circle was a different diameter and placed at a different height. The larger platforms were the main embarkation zones for the three lines. They were cushioned by smaller platforms, allowing for further access to the skytrams. Around the outside were medium circles with ticket dispensers and projection screens that showed the routes.

  Connecting all the disks were bridges that stretched across the expanse. They arched to allow the trams to pass through the sky beneath. Passengers teemed across them, the bridges’ clear sides making them appear to walk on air.

  A tram was about to dock in the station. People were queued on one of the larger disks and trailed off onto the two surrounding it. It was a well-chosen meeting spot, central to the city and with enough crowd movement that they’d not likely be noticed. Not even Clarissa.

  Clarissa’s ping had said she’d find him. And he knew she would. If he didn’t know better, he would swear she’d implanted a tracker in him. They were friends, and he knew she wouldn’t do that to him, though she’d be tempted. Clarissa was much like Arden that way: she straddled ethical lines if it meant that her agenda could be furthered.

  He was conscious of everything: each person who swept by him, the annoying gaggle of teens on the next platform, the old lady who kept shooting him looks. Awareness prickled, right down to his breathing. He kept his body calm and loose.

  Dade knew they were there before he saw them. He anticipated the reaching slide of the hand. When it came with no more than a whisper of displaced air, he was ready. He snatched the hand, pivoting his body as he twisted the arm. He kept the phaser that the attacker was holding pointed away from him while he continued to press her body forward and down.

  The girl was light and small. He couldn’t see her properly. But he could feel the thinness of her bones. She was dressed similarly to him. Swathed against the cold with a flowing cloak. Her hood slipped down as she fought against his hold, letting out a spill of hair that had come loose from her braid.

  He continued to grip her wrist and squeeze.

  She gave a little yelp.

  “Let the phaser go,” he said. And then twisted her hand a little more, putting maximum strain on her wrist. He contained their interaction, keeping his voice low.

  The phaser she’d held clattered to the floor. She remained defiant, though, straining against him in an attempt to gain her freedom.

  Another person came up behind Dade, the second of the team. But whatever action the individual intended was cut off with a sharp cry.

  By the time Dade turned, Saben had ahold of the other girl, not much older than the first. They looked similar, sisters perhaps. These two might be part of a gang, but Dade didn’t think so. They were gaunt, half-starved. Their clothing was stained and ragged, inadequate for the temperature. Most likely they were opportunists. And they were hungry, by the look of it.

  He turned the girl he held around to face him. She wiggled, but he kept his grip tight. Making sure to exert the right amount of pressure to keep her pinned without hurting her. As he looked at her now, she appeared even younger than he’d thought.

  The other struggled against Saben’s hold as well.

  Saben looked almost bored. “We can’t do this here.”

  He was right. They didn’t need the attention. So far they’d garnered a look or two. The thwarting of a pickpocket was common enough, though.

  “Are you going to kill us?” The girl Saben held spat the words too loudly.

  Dade sighed. Placing his foot on the phaser the first had dropped, he said, “Go,” and pushed her away.

  Saben had taken the other phaser. He let his quarry go as well.

  Neither kid made a grab for their lost weapons. They both raced away, disappearing into the crowd.

  Dade reached down to snag the phaser from the ground and handed it over to Saben. “Clarissa will be here any minute.”

  Nodding, Saben pocketed both weapons. “I’m watching your back.”

  “I’ve never doubted that.”

  “Stay alert,” Saben said, and then he turned and disappeared. He’d wait out of sight for the meet. Ready in case anything else happened.

  Air popped as the protective barrier dematerialized when a tram left the station. Whooshing, the current moved Dade’s hood. The barr
iers blocked the skytram when it docked and departed, keeping commuters from being sucked into the air wash.

  At the far dock, another tram pulled close to the station. A second pop sounded as the protective barrier again snapped into place. The platform he stood on began to fill with commuters in the ensuing chaos as people exited the skytram and made their way either to another disk for a connection or into the buildings beyond.

  Suddenly, Clarissa appeared in front of him like a whisper of light. She wore pale orange, reminding him of the sunshine he hadn’t seen in what seemed like forever. The hood of her cloak had fabric that billowed out about her face. Stylish and yet not obtrusive enough to be picked out by the cams and remarked upon.

  Up close, he could see the stress on her face. Her painted red mouth quirked as she smiled at him in spite of it, and she tried to give him a cheery greeting. “Still wearing the synth-mask, I see.”

  Dade grunted. “I wish I could go out as myself, but you know how it is.”

  “I do.” She looked pointedly at a pap-drone that hadn’t caught sight of her yet. “Someday, though, you’ll want to use your real face.”

  “I doubt that.” So many things had to change for that to happen. He had to be not dead for one, and two, the gossip-vids needed to not care about him.

  “We’ll see.” There was an enigmatic quality to her statement. It made Dade’s gut clench low in his stomach. She was up to something.

  “I thought you’d never get here,” he grumbled.

  She shrugged and slipped her arm through his. “Walk. We only have a moment before the next tram comes in. I need to be on it.”

  “As if you were never here?”

  “Exactly.”

  He figured that meant she’d planned this little tête-à-tête while she was en route somewhere else. It was smart and daring and totally Clarissa. They were surrounded by people and crowded into the center of the bridge as they crossed it. Knowing Clarissa, he assumed she had some kind of noise dampener on her so that their conversation would not be overheard.

  He’d worn his own disrupter as well. Had taken to wearing one regularly after he’d found a supply within Mina’s stash. The disrupter didn’t have a long range, creating a bubble around him so that the cams couldn’t get a lock on his voice.

  “They’re watching me all the time.” She let out a little sigh. “I’m virtually locked in Sky Tower One. My parents—well, let’s just say we have differing opinions on how to navigate the social disaster my life has become since your death.”

  Dade could imagine.

  “Anyway, enough of my grumbling,” she said. “We’re here about you.”

  “Did you find us a way in?” he asked.

  “I did. And let me tell you, it was not fun. Even I can’t get into the other Sky Towers. And not just because I’m persona non grata.” She made a sour face. “The families are fracturing. No one trusts anyone anymore. The Sky Towers have locked themselves up into mini units.”

  It was the opposite of what Hernim, Dade’s father, had planned. And because of that, Dade liked the outcome. His father wanted to be in control of all the families, to rule the Solizen and eventually the city.

  The families had always been wary of one another. But they’d been forced to get along to hold sway over the govies. Without the glue of the VitD manufacturing to hold them together, their natural distrust and competition would have kicked in.

  “This stunt of yours is going to cost me. I’m blowing one of my lines for you.” Clarissa’s words were dark.

  He couldn’t see her face as she walked beside him. The billowing fabric kept her hidden. He wondered if this was on purpose. If she didn’t want him to have a full picture of the pressure she was under.

  “Thank you for helping me,” he said, meaning it sincerely. They were friends, had been his whole life. He wished he could bring her with him now. Hated that they had to be separated from each other by time and space and civil unrest.

  Though Dade knew he needed to focus on himself. He had his own things to deal with, and staying alive was priority number one.

  “I managed to get these at great personal cost.” She held out her hand.

  He extended his palm, and she dropped items into it. They were patches, about a quarter of an inch wide, with wires of tech inside. He pressed his thumb into one, feeling the slightly raised center.

  “What is it?” Dade closed his hand around them and stuck them into his pocket.

  “The patches are part of the upgraded security in Sky Tower Two. They’re no longer relying on the global ID system. Your father is extremely paranoid.”

  The working relationship between Hernim and Chief Nakomzer had indeed broken down if his father was no longer using the implanted data sensor to keep track of those inside the Tower.

  “Anyone inside the Tower is required to cover their data sensors so that the govies can’t monitor who’s in the building. Even guests are asked to put on a blackout band prior to entering.” She gave him a flat stare. “They don’t care that it’s against the law. Honestly, I think that’s a big part of it, seeing how far they can push Nakomzer before he pushes back.”

  “Not too much farther, I would think. Nakomzer is as power hungry as the rest of them.”

  “Agreed,” she said. “The patches are issued at the beginning of every shift and changed once between. They’re single use. As far as I can tell, they last four hours. After that, an alert is sent to the central hub. Get yourself programmed into the system, and only turn them online when you’re inside.”

  He nodded.

  Her gaze flicked to the rotation of govies who lined the skyway above looking down on them, studying the crowd. They had large phase-blasters in their hands. “That’s not the worst of the problem.”

  Dade looked in the direction in which she stared. Assessing the tactical team. “They’re mobilizing.”

  Clarissa made a noise of derision. “The govies are making a power play, yes. But they’re not the ones taking over the streets.”

  “What do you mean?” He’d been underground too long. If he’d even done some reconnaissance in Undercity, maybe he’d hear grumblings of who was moving to the top of the pile. Because he didn’t doubt that she spoke the truth, that someone was taking advantage of the situation.

  She bit her lip, and then turned to him and gave him a smile. “We’ll see how it eventually plays out. Can’t very well fight if they don’t come out of the shadows.”

  They were almost at the next platform. The skytram’s countdown was projected into the darkness of the static cloud above it. They had two minutes until it left the station.

  He knew Clarissa was getting on it.

  Reaching out, he grabbed her hand. “We can have a better world.”

  Her eyes glinted. “I always did like that you were such an optimist.”

  Dade winked.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Arden snuck down the street, staying out of the streetlights and blending in with the shadows. She moved fast, knowing she had only a small amount of time before Venz became suspicious and raised the alarm. She could only imagine that Roan—and probably Coco and Annem—would realize what her presence here meant, and converge to stop her. They’d ruin her plans.

  Her destination loomed ahead. The very building the Lasair boy went into the day before. She paused at the opposite corner to contemplate her options. Arden couldn’t use the front entrance. There were too many lights, and she would be seen. Neither did she have the time to circle around the building. This would have to be quick and dirty.

  She decided that using a window would be her best bet. Arden chose one far enough away from the spill of light, though still close enough to the front that she’d be able to backtrack to the lobby and hopefully pick up the boy’s trail. The window she approached was missing the moonglass that had once fit into the casing. Instead of using brick to seal it, someone had stretched synth-board across the opening.

  The board had warped in th
e dampness, the synth swelled with condensation. Sections had disintegrated, pulling away from the sill. As a result, there was enough room in the gap between the board and the sill for her to slip her fingers underneath. The wood was damp enough for her to pull the corners loose, though it took some effort. Her muscles strained. Eventually the board buckled with a groan. The space she’d opened was only large enough to shimmy her body through, but it was enough.

  Arden placed her hands on the sill and hoisted herself in. She used her toes to notch into the brick to give her a little help up. She was dressed in her synth-suit and boots with the grip soles. Her gloves had suction grips that could be turned on if she needed them. It made climbing into the building easy.

  She’d had the entire day to plan. How many phasers she’d take, which weapons she needed for close contact. It kept her mind focused while she waited for the others to go about their business.

  Arden had decided not to take Dade with her. A disconnect, a barrier, had grown between them. She didn’t think he was lying to her. But he was hiding something. It irritated her. They only had each other. There shouldn’t be secrets between them. Still, she was doing the exact same thing. Too many secrets flitted through her head, and she had a difficult time trusting anyone, even Dade.

  He’d stuck with her and her lies, though, the night before. Mina had looked at her suspiciously when she’d spun tales about losing the Lasair boy. She’d managed to distract Mina by mentioning seeing the Twins, telling her that they’d been after the boy as well.

  When Dade and Saben had taken off that afternoon and then Mina had left the compound with Nastasia, Arden knew the time had come. She’d suited up and bolted.

  The window she crawled through entered into a bathroom. She landed with a soft thud on the tiled floor. The light was off, and the door to the hallway was open. A leaky faucet dripped in the sink, staining the bowl yellow. Mold crept up the shower stall. It stank of stale wetness.

  There were people in the apartment. The sound of daily living muted through the walls. Arden went to the door, using the wall to partially shield her body while getting the lay of the apartment.